[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource GamesPress.]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New book released on the 40th anniversary of PONGtm commemorates
the video game industry’s first corporate titan and the
history makers behind the company’s success.

New York, New York - November 29, 2012 -- Today, people ask,
“Do you play video games?" but in the 70’s and 80's,
people asked, “Do you play ATARI?" The noted video game
historian team of Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel answer that
question and more in their book, ‘Atari Inc. – Business
is Fun’ - a definitive look at the origins and 40 year
history of the very first video game industry icon, Atari.

Over seven years in the writing, ‘Atari Inc. –
Business Is Fun’ is the TRUE, unvarnished accounting of a
brand that became not just a household name, but a cultural
phenomenon. Available now for sale via Amazon.com, “Our
intent was to focus on the behind-the-scenes stories from the
people who worked there," said Goldberg. "’Atari Inc. –
Business Is Fun’ goes beyond facts and figures – we
wanted to give readers an unparalleled look into what it was like
to work at a place that created fun for a living as told by the
people who were responsible for Atari’s success."

Goldberg and Vendel joined forced to compile hundreds of hours
of interviews and thousands of original Atari documents
they’d acquired, condensing it all into a 800 page tribute to
the founders and employees who created the Atari legacy. With over
300 pages of exclusive never before seen behind the scenes photos,
‘Atari Inc. – Business Is Fun’ encapsulates every
element of what it was like to work at one of the worlds most
influential and innovative electronic entertainment companies of
all time.

Vendel elaborates, "Most people associate Atari with the company
logo, video games like ‘PONG’ and how revolutionary the
company was by bucking the ‘Big Blue’ mold, letting
people show up to work in jeans and sandals, but the public at
large was never exposed to the hearts and souls that created the
company. This book will dispel… and maybe also
‘confirm’ numerous rumors by giving readers that front
row, first person experience.”

‘Atari Inc. - Business Is Fun’ also offers an
unparalleled look into the inner workings of what it was like to
work in Silicon Valley in the 1970’s and 1980's… and
to do that at the most outrageous, innovative company of its
time… a company whose sole intent was to create FUN for a
living!

About The Authors:

Martin Goldberg: Video game programmer and industry writer
veteran of 13 years, former site director of IGN/GameSpy's
'ClassicGaming.Com,' freelancer for Retro Gamer magazine,
co-founder of the Midwest Gaming Classic (one of the largest
electronic entertainment expos in the United States), co-founder of
the Electronic Entertainment Museum - E2M (a non-profit archive
preserving the history and artifacts of the video game and home
computer industries), member of the International Game Development
Association's (IGDA) Game Preservation SIG (a community for those
interested in digital game preservation and history).

Curt Vendel: Entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Bidiots! (former
online auction site for video game artifacts), founder and CEO of
Awesome Arcades LLC (former manufacturer of home arcades), former
IT Systems Engineer, self-taught Electrical Engineer, historian,
founder and curator of the Atari History Museum, valued resource
for Atari insight and archival information by Atari, SA., Atari
Interactive, numerous research institutions, trade publications and
entertainment magazines, television networks and movie studios.
Vendel holds a BS in Computer Science.